Lightning-stroke generator



March 3, 1936. P. l.. BELLAscHl 2,032,904

LIGHTNING STROKE GENERATOR Filed Oct. 5, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l .56 BYQQj Z ATTORNEY M arch 3, 1936. P BELLASCHI 2,032,904

LIGHTNING STROKE GENERATOR Filed Oct. 3, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 o n 5f o o o v 46 y 1 5553-?. 55 52 J/ 57 7 22 :iL-:55E *n o i l nii I ff O0 OE* 62 E y l) o o l if El o NgSSES: INVENTOR I /g/@ff//ff/f.

ATTQRNEY n March 3, 1936. P. L.. BELLAscHi 2,032,904

LIGHTNING STROKE GENERATOR Filed Oct. 3, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORN EY Patented Mar. 3, 1936- UNITED `sTliTlazs 2,032,904 LIGHTNING-STROKE GENERATOR Peter L. Bellaschi, Sharon, Pa., assigner to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 3, 1935, Serial No. 43,355

18 Claims.

My present invention relates to lightning-stroke current generators and to combined lightningstroke currentand voltage generators, such as are described in my paper in Electrical Engineering, published by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, for January, 1934, volume 53, pages 86 to 94, and in my article in the Electric Journal for June, 1935, volume 32, pages 237 to 240.

Prior to my present invention, so-called lightning generators, which were utilized for testing insulators and the like, were high-voltage impulse-generators which were capable of generating a very highvoltage with relatively little current. It has long been obvious, however, that such an impulse-generator could not begin to duplicate the enormous destructive eifects of an actual lightning-current discharge, which I believe often reaches a magnitude of the order of 100,000 amperes crest-value, or even 150,000 or 200,000 amperes, with a duration of from 40 to 100 or even 200 microseconds to half value.

In order to make it possible to test protective equipment which is designed to handle direct lightning-strokes, it has been necessary Yfor me to design a lightning-stroke generator which wouldduplicate the destructive forces of the heavy lightning currents. Since the initial publication .of my Work, others have attempted to build similar generators, and have displayed a tendency to strive for large currents, which are obtained by reducing the impedance of the circuit to an extreme but without obtaining a suiilcient duration of discharge to really simulate lightning-stroke conditions. I have found, in my work, that the inductance of the circuit must not be reduced to its lowest possible value, but must be sufficiently large to make it possible or practicable to obtain a suiliciently long duration of discharge.

An object of my invention is to provide a lightning-stroke current generator of the type just indicated.

A further object of my invention is to so combine a lightning-stroke current generator and a high-voltage impulse generator, that the combined apparatus will simultaneously produce a sufliciently high voltage and a suiiiciently heavy current-discharge to simulate the full eiect of a very severe, direct lightning-stroke discharge occurring in nature. Thus, the impulse generator may first discharge through or across the test piece, without being short-circuited by the low-impedance lightning-current generator, and the current generator may thereafter discharge its heavy current through the test piece. The use of the surge impulse generator to initiate the discharge renders the operation of the lightning-current generator totally independent of the voltage required to initiate the discharge in the test piece, which is useful even in testing low-voltage devices.

In developing the lightning-stroke generator adapted for the routine testing of insulation and protective equipment, it has been necessary to provide, as a practical feature of the device, some means for muilling and silencing the deafening and harmful thunderous discharge, so as to make it possible for the operator to remain near by, in order to control the equipment and to make rapid connections of successive test pieces. To this end, I procured and tried muliiers such as are made for machine guns, but without success.

I also tried silencers but without any better results. In order successfully to clap a hand over the mouth of thunder, as it were, it was necessary for me to develop a-special muiller and a special baille arrangement.

An object of my invention is to provide such a muiller and bailling means.

With the foregoing outstanding objects in view, and many others which will be understood from the following specification, my invention consists in the apparatus, systems, combinations and methods hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view embodying a simplified wiring diagram illustrative of my lightning-stroke current generator and its manner of use,

Fig. 2 is a three-quarter perspective view of a preferred embodiment of my current generator,

Fig. 3 is a front perspective view thereof, with parts broken away to show the internal connstruction,

Y Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view comprising a `simplified wiring diagram for my combined lightning-stroke current and voltage generator,

and

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a slight modication of the equipment shown in Fig. 4.

The particular lightning-stroke current generator shown in Figs. 2 and 3 consists essentially of sixty-four or any large number of capacitors 6 banked together, each rated at 100,000 volts and 0.25 microfarad capacitance. Each capacitor may conveniently consist of two 50,000-volt or higher voltage capacitors connected in series, and both mounted in the same tank, or mounted in separate tanks directly connected together so as to electrically constitute a single unit. It is desirable that the voltage of the capacitors should be as high as possible, if the equipment is to be utilized for testing a wide variety of test pieces of different voltage-ratings, so that the lightning-stroke current generator may be capable of breaking down the insulation of the test piece. Where my invention is utilized in conjunction with an impulse generator, however, as

shown in Figs. l and 5, a high-voltage capacitor bank is not necessary, particularly where oscillatory discharges are utilized (with minimum resistance), yin which case capacitor voltages of 10,000 to 50,000 volts, or even lower voltages, may he used.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, mysiXty-four capacitors are mounted in groups of eight on each of eight steps 'l of a wooden rack 8. I provide buses 3 and I@ for connecting the sixty-four capacitors 5 all in parallel, and each oi the buses 9 and l0 preferably comprises two large copper bars connected in parallel, in order to reduce the resistance-losses to a minimum, and to properly adjust the effect of the inductance in relation to the capacitance, so that the current delivered by the generator will simulate an actual lightningcurrent discharge, both in amplitude and in duration, as previously mentioned. The buses 9 and l0 are rigidly supported on insulating'uprights I I, and are connected to thecapacitors by means of iiexible straps or cables i2 so as to avoid mechanical stresses due to the passage ofthe extremely heavy currents and thermalv expansion and contraction. 'I'he bus I0 is grounded as indicated at la.

Reference to Fig. 1 will show that the capacitors 6 are all permanently connected in parallel between the buses 9 and I0, and are all charged at once by means of a charging unit consisting of 4a step-up transformer i4, two rectiers i5, electrical storage devices in the form of capacitors i6, and a current-limiting charging-resistance il. In Fig. 1, only eight capacitors 6 are shown, for simplicity of illustration, although it will be understood that the figure represents all of the capacitors. v

In operation, the charging unit charges the entire bank of capacitors slowly, that is, at a rate which is very slow in comparison with the dura-- tion of the discharge, requiring a charging period of something like one minute in order to charge the capacitors e to substantially their full value. It will be noted that the charging unit delivers a rectified current at a voltage equal to the capacitor lvoltage-'e appearing across the buses a and iii.

In Fig. 1, the test piece is indicated at 2t, the same being connected between terminal connections Z and 22 of the generator. The terminal connection 2i for the test piece is connected to the generator bus i0 through a specially constructed low-resistance current-shunt 23 having the smallest possible inductance. The .other terminal connection 22 vfor the test piece is connected to the other bus 9 yoi? the generator through a triple-gap device 2d, and also, if desired for the purpose or controlling the wave-form of the current-output, through a small series resistor 2l.

The gap-device 2d is utilized for the purpose /of eiecting an electrical connection between the lightning-stroke current generator and the test piece, so as to initiate the discharge. The' gapdevice 2d consists of three spaced gap-electrodes Si, 32 and 33, the two end electrodes 3l and 33 being connected, respectively, to the test-piece terminal connection 22 and to the series resistor 2l, or directly to the generator bus d if the series resistor 'tis not utilized. The intermediate gapelectrode 32 is usually connected to some sort oftripping and synchronizing circuit whereby the exact moment of discharge may be mechanically or electrically synchronized with respect to the commercial supply-circuit, usually 60 cycles, so that the discharge occurs at or near the crest aosaece of the power-frequency voltage, or at any other desired point in the Wave.

A simplified tripping and synchronizing cirr 'lit for this purpose is indicated in Fig. l as comprising a push button 3K5 which is utilized to energize a step-up transformer 3i' which is connected to the middle electrode 3B of a secondv triple-gap device d0, the two terminal electrodes di and d2 of which are connected to the other terminal of the step-up transformer 3l through a resistor S3 and a capacitor dit, respectively, so

that the triple-gap device it breaks down at or i current generator' to discharge through the test piece 20. Y

If desired, the discharge-current may be measured or recorded by means of a cathode-ray oscillograph 48 which is diagrammatically indicated in Fig. l, and which is connected/across the current-shunt 23 by means of a wire or wires vghich are enclosed in a grounded sheathed cable To look at a ashover across the gap device o a low-current lightning-voltage or impulse generator would not be anything like as dangerous as looking at the intolerably bright are of a full lightning-current discharge. To look directly at a stroke of lightning from the relatively short distance across a laboratory would probably mean permanent injury to the eyes. In order to partially protect the 'eyes of the operators, as well as to provide means for carrying away the noxious gases of the discharge and to keep the air `in a normal condition at the discharge point, as well as to safeguard against the ying particles of atest piece which may become disrupted by the discharge, the various discharge devices are enclosed in boxes or housings as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, wherein is shown a triple-gap housing 5i in which the triple-gap device Eil is located, and a test chamber 52 in which the'test piece 2t is located, both oi these boxes 5lA and 52 being ventilated by means of exhaust pipes 53 and 5d, respectively, through s which air is sucked by means of injector pumps in Figs. 2 and 3 as comprising a muilier 5? mounted partly within and partlyI without the test chamber 52, and having connections 58, at the end which is located Within the test chamber, for receiving a plurality of test pieces 20, such as tubular lightning arresters or the exhaust-blast type, which discharge into the muilier 5l. -The muiiier is provided with a thick lining of sounddeadening material, such asl a one-fourth inch lining 5@ of lead.

'I'he muer 5l is connected to the exhaust pipe 5d, so that it is really the muiiler which is ventilated, rather than the test chamber, strictly speaking. The sound-deadening action of the 2,032,904 muler must be aided by means of a plurality of opposed, spaced bailles 6|, which are disposed within the exhaust or vent pipe 54, preferably by means of saw cuts 62, each about half-way through the vent pipe 54, at a plurality of spaced points along the vent pipe, successive saw cuts being made from different sides of the pipe, and the saw cuts being thereafter lled with the bames 6| which consist of senil-circular plates which are welded in place, as indicated.

In the design of a lightning-stroke current generator in accordance with my invention, particularly where the highest oscillatory discharges are "to be made possible with the apparatus, the proportional arrangements should be observed whereby the effective inductance of the buses, gap-means and terminal connections, in microhenries, is at least of the order of 100 times the effective series discharge-resistance, in ohms, of the lightning-stroke current generator with its terminal connections 2| and 22 joined through ,a verylow resistance in lieu of a test-piece, or

at least 20 times the combined eiective series discharge-resistance, in ohms, of the test piece and the lightning-stroke current generator. Numerically, the value of the inductance L may be at least of the order of 4 microhenries; or the inductance, in microhenries, may be at least of the order of 1A ofthe effective capacitance C of the entire capacitor-bank, in rnicrofarads. By this means, a current-discharge of adequate duration (40 to 200 microseconds to hall' value) is attained, particularly when the series resistor 21 is omitted in order to obtain oscillatory discharges of the maximum intensity.

The voltage of the capacitor-bank is not a'n absolute prerequisite, particularly when my current generator is utilized in conjunction with a voltage generator, as will be subsequently described in connection with Figs. 4 and 5,- but it is believed to be desirable that the capacitorvoltage of the current generator should be at least of the order of 10,000 to 50,000 volts and preferably `from 100,000 to 300,000 volts.

If the total series discharge-resistance is raised to a sulllclently high value, theoretically or even higher, as by inserting thev series resistor 21, or by utilizing a test piece 20 of suiliciently high discharge-resistance, the discharge will be exponential or non-oscillatory. It is necessary, in this case, for the capacitor-voltage to be sufciently high to deliver the desired heavy discharge-current through the resistance of the discharge-circuit. It is also necessary for the total capacitance C to be sufilcient to deliver the high discharge-current andy to produce a sufficient duration of the discharge, which should usually be at least 40 microseconds to half-value, or not much less than that, if actual lightning conditions are to be simulated.

The use of a current-generator which is capable of delivering oscillatory discharges of maxlmum duration as well as amplitude, with a testpiece of low discharge-resistance, but having such constants that it will also deliver a lightningsimulating non-oscillatory discharge through a test-piece of much higher resistance, makes possible a Wide variety of tests with the same apparatus'.- By inserting an external resistor` 21 of the proper value, it is possible to control the amplitude and the wave-form of both the oscillatory discharge and the non-oscillatory discharge. The

amplitude can also be controlled by varying the time allowed for the charging of the capacitors 6.

In Fig. 4, I have shown my lightning-stroke current generator combined with a high-voltage impulse-generator which is indicated schematically as consisting essentially of a large number of capacitors 64 which are connected in series by means of spark-gap devices 65, so that the capacitors may be charged, Ain parallel, from a common charging circuit 66, and may be discharged, in series, through a discharge-gap device 51 'which connects onto the terminal connection 22 of the test piece 20, shunted by a high resistance 69.

It is necessary to prevent the voltage generator from discharging altogether through the lowimpedance circuit of the current generator. To this end, an impedance-device l is employed, connected in series with the bus 9 of the current generator, between said bus and the terminal connection 22 of the test piece 20.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Fig. 4, this impedance-device 10 is in the form of a coil ofadequate inductance, such as 100 microhenries in the particular embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings. In this way, it has been possible to break down a twentyfive-inch gap in the test piece 20, 'and to discharge, across said gap, approximately 50,000 amperes of a duration in excessof 100 microseconds to half value.

`In the embodiment of my invention shown in Fig. 5, the impedance-device 10 takes the more effective form of a high-resistancev fuse-link 1|, several feet long, which may be enclosed in an insulating tube or housing 12 which may be made of iibre or other equivalent insulating and mechanically adequate material. This high-resistance fuse-link may have an initial resistance of the order of one to a few hundred ohms which keeps enough of the impulse-voltage discharge out of the current generator to produce a' voltage sufficient to break down the insulation of the test piece 20. In a matter of one or a few microseconds, the fuse 'll converts itself into a low-resistance arc, 'so that the discharge of the current generator follows immediately after the high-voltage discharge through or across the test piece 20.

In both Figs. 4 and 5, a gap-device 13 is consmall part of the high-voltage discharge goes through the impedance 10 or 1I, thereby permitting the current-generator discharge to iiow through the test piece after the voltage generator has broken down the insulation of said test piece.

By my novel arrangement and combination of a lightning-Stroke current generator and a lightning-stroke voltage generator, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, I have provided a means for testing apparatus (or test pieces) requiring a higher voltage than that which is available from the current generator alone, by initiating the discharge across the apparatus with a high-voltage surgegenerator, instantly following with the discharge of the lightning-stroke current generator through the apparatus tested. This combination of current and voltage generator also makes it feasible to design the current generator with a lower voltage on the capacitors 6, thereby eliminating the restrictions imposed on the design of the current generator by the voltage requirements, thus saving very materially in vthe cost and size of 'the apparatus, or making it possible to design the apparatus to have a larger current output for a given volume of capacitor material.

While I have illustrated my invention in several forms of embodiment which are at present `preferred, and while I have given some indication prising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, and gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal ccnnections to said buses, characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby the effective in- 'ductance of said buses, gap-means and terminal connections, in microhenries, is at least of the order of 100 times the eective series dischargeresistance, in ohms, of the lightning-stroke current generator .with its terminal connections l joined through a very low resistance.

2. A lightning-strokecurrent generator com-1.`

prising a pluralityof capacitors, buses'connecting said capacitorsfin parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, and gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, characterized by sumcient capacitors to give a maximum crest value of discharge, under optimum conditions, at least of the order of 50,000 amperes, and further characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby the ecctive inductance of said buses, gap-means` and terminal connections, inv microhenries, is at least of the order of 20 times the combined effective series discharge-resistance, inohms, of the test piece and the lightning-stroke current generator. n

3. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a, test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging means having'the full capacitor-voltage of lsaid buses. characterized by a inductance of said buses, gap-means and terniiy nal connections, in microhenries, is at least of connections for a testpiece, gap-means for controlling the connection ofA said terminal-connections to said buses, .and means connected across said buses Vfor unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging-means having the full y gesamt capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by suflicient capacitors to give a maximum crestvalue of discharge, under optimum conditions, at least of the order of 100,000 amperes, yand further characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby the eiective inductance of said buses, gap-means and terminal connections, in microhenries, is at least of the order of 20 times the combined eective series discharge-resistance, in ohms, of the test piece and the lightning-stroke current generator.

5. A lightning-stroke current generator c'omprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors inV parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionallycharging said capacitors, said charging means having the full capacitorvoltage of said buses, characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby the effective inductance of said buses, gap-means and terminal con@r nections is at least of the order of 4 microhenries.

6. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal conneciions for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said [buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging means having the full capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by suicient capacitors and a suicient preponderance of inductance over resistance to produce an oscillatory-current discharge of amplitude and dural charge-resistance is high enough to produce aV substantially non-oscillatory discharge, the amplitude and duration of the discharge correspond in. eect to the eiect of lightning in nature.

8. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal conneci tions for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to saidzbuses. and means-connected across-said buses Yfor unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging means having ihe full capacitorvoltage of said buses, characterized by -a proportional arrangement whereby the effective inductance of said busesgapmeans and terminal connections, in microhenries, is at least of the order of one quarter of the eective capacitance of the capacitors, in microfarads.

@9. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitorsfbuses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to vsaid buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging means having the full capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby there is produced, under optimum conditions, a maximum duration of the discharge, to half value, at least u of the order of 40 microseconds.

10. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors each having a rating at leastof the order of 50,000 volts, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said chargingv means having the full capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby there is produced, under optimum conditions, a maximum duration of the discharge, to half value, at least of the order of 40 microseconds.

11. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel,termina1 connections fora test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging means having the full capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by suilcient capacitors togive a maximum crest value of discharge, under optimum conditions, at least of the order of 50,000 amperes, and further characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby there is produced, under optimum conditions, a maximum duration of the discharge, to half value, at least of the order of 40 microseconds.

12. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging means having the full capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by sufliclent capacitors to give a maximum crest value of discharge, under optimum conditions, at least of the order of 50,000 amperes, and further characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby the effective inductance of said buses, gap-means and terminah connections is at least of the order of 4 microhenries.

13. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors each having av rating. at least of the order of 50,000 volts, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, said charging means having the full capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby the effective inductance of said buses, gap-means and terminal connections is at least of the order of 4 microhenries.

14. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors each having a rating at least of the order of 50,000 volts, buses `connecting said capacitors in parallel, vterminalI connections for a test piece, gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, and means connected across said buses for unidirectionally charging said capacitors, saidcharging means having the full capacitor-voltage of said buses, characterized by a proportional arrangement whereby the eii'ective inductance of said buses, gap-means and terminal connections, in microhenries, is at least of the order of one quarter of the effective capacitance of the capacitors, in microfarads.

15. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, a sound deadening box for containing the discharge of said test piece, a ventpipe for said box, said vent-pipe having a plurality of opposed, spaced bafiles therein, and gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses.

16. A lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, terminal connections for a test piece, and gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said buses, characterized by means whereby said generator may be repeatedly used by an operator working in the same room with it, said means including means for enclosing the test-piece discharge-space, means for Ventilating the test-piece discharge-space so as to tend to keep the air in approximately normal condition at said discharge and to carry away the noxious gases thereof, a sound deadening box for containing the discharge of said test piece, and a vent-pipe for said box, said vent-pipe having a plurality of opposed, spaced baiiles therein, said Ventilating means for the test piece including said sound-deadening box and said vent-pipe.

17. A combined lightning-stroke current and voltage generator comprising a lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, and buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, a lightning-strokeV voltage generator comprising a plurality of serially connected capacitors, terminal connections for a test piece, coupling means including a gap-device for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said lightning-stroke voltage generator, and other coupling means including an impedance-device for connecting said current-generator buses to said terminal connections, said impedance being suillciently high to keep enough of the initial dischargeof the voltage generator out of the current generator tocause an insulationbreakdown of the test piece.

18. A combined lightning-stroke current and voltage generator comprising a lightning-stroke current generator comprising a plurality of capacitors, and buses connecting said capacitors in parallel, a lightning-stroke voltage generator comprising a plurality of serially connected capacitors, terminal connections for a test piece,

gap-means for controlling the connection of said terminal connections to said lightning-stroke Voltage generator, and other gap-means and an impedance-device for connecting said currentgenerator buses to said terminal connections, said impedance-device being av high-resistance link fusible into a low-resistance arc, whereby it keeps enough-of the discharge of the voltage generator out of the current generator long enough to cause an insulation-breakdown of the test piece and then changes into a relatively low-resistance discharge-path for connecting the current generator to the test piece.

PETER L. BELLASCHI. 

